A weekly journal on architecture, anthropology and radiant based heating, ventilation and air conditioning. The role of indoor environmental ergonomics, industrial design, HVAC as a health care issue and other human factors in the design of indoor spaces.

November 28, 2013

Background: Indoor air pollutants (IAPs) cause multiple health impacts. Prioritizing mitigation options that differentially impact individual pollutants and comparing IAPs to other environmental health hazards requires a common metric of harm. Objectives: The objective was to demonstrate a methodology to quantify and compare health impacts from IAPs. The methodology is needed to assess population health impacts of large-scale initiatives – including energy efficiency upgrades and ventilation standards – that affect indoor air quality (IAQ). Methods: Available disease incidence and disease impact models for specific pollutant-disease combinations were synthesized with data on measured concentrations to estimate the chronic heath impact, in Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALYs), due to inhalation of a subset of IAPs in U.S. residences. Model results were compared to independent estimates of DALYs lost due to disease. Results: PM2.5, acrolein, and formaldehyde accounted for the vast majority of DALY losses caused by IAPs considered in this analysis, with impacts on par or greater than estimates for secondhand tobacco smoke and radon. Confidence intervals of DALYs lost derived from epidemiology-based response functions are tighter than those derived from toxicology-based, inter-species extrapolations. Statistics on disease incidence in the US indicate that the upper-bound confidence interval for aggregate IAP harm is implausibly high. Conclusions: The demonstrated approach may be used to assess regional and national initiatives that impact IAQ at the population level. Cumulative health impacts from inhalation in U.S. residences of the IAPs assessed in this study are estimated at 400—1100 DALYs annually per 100,000 people.

November 06, 2013

The first-ever textbook of children's environmental health. Comprehensively assembled and edited by two pediatricians
who are widely recognized leaders and pioneers in the field of children's
environmental health.

An ideal course textbook or collateral reading in schools of
public health and in universities that offer majors in public health or
environmental science. Suitable for public health practitioners, pediatricians and
pediatric trainees; family physicians; environmental scientists; nurses and
nursing students; students in schools of public health; college undergraduates
majoring in public health, environmental health or environmental science;
health and environmental policy makers in governments and NGOs.

Over the past four decades, the prevalence of autism,
asthma, ADHD, obesity, diabetes, and birth defects have grown substantially
among children around the world. Not coincidentally, more than 80,000 new
chemicals have been developed and released into the global environment during
this same period. Today the World Health Organization attributes 36% of all
childhood deaths to environmental causes.

Children's environmental health is a new and expanding
discipline that studies the profound impact of chemical and environmental
hazards on child health. Amid mounting evidence that children are exquisitely
sensitive to their environment-and that exposure during their developmental
"windows of susceptibility" can trigger cellular changes that lead to
disease and disability in infancy, childhood, and across the life span-there is
a compelling need for continued scientific study of the relationship between
children's health and environment.

The Textbook of Children's Environmental Health codifies the
knowledge base and offers an authoritative and comprehensive guide to this
important new field. Edited by two internationally recognized pioneers in the
area, this volume presents up-to-date information on the chemical, biological,
physical, and societal hazards that confront children in today's world:
pesticides, indoor and outdoor air pollution, lead, arsenic, phthalates,
bisphenol A, brominated flame retardants, ionizing radiation, electromagnetic
fields, and the built environment. It presents carefully documented data on
rising rates of disease in children, offers a critical summary of new research
linking pediatric disease with environmental exposures, and explores the
cellular, molecular, and epigenetic mechanisms underlying diseases of
environmental origin.

With this volume's emphasis upon integrating theory and
practice, readers will find practical approaches to channeling scientific
findings into evidence-based strategies for preventing and identifying the
environmental hazards that cause disease in children. It is a landmark work
that will serve as the field's benchmark for years to come.

Readership: Practitioners and researchers in pediatrics,
public health, nursing, life and environmental sciences, toxicology,
obstetrics, developmental psychology, and health economics.

November 09, 2010

This 3-day program is a condensed exploration into the numerous elements which influence Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) in residential buildings. Participants will be introduced to the terms of Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) and its effect on health and wellness.

The PCA (Prevention, Correction and Avoidance) approach to IAQ is detailed though instruction on the building sciences for cold climates including various options in HVAC equipment and systems. The program also reviews the ASTM Standard D-7297-06, Standard Practice for Evaluating Residential Indoor Air Quality Concerns including a look at various instruments and instrumentation used by investigators.

Included with your registration fee is the 400 page course manual and access to all the instructor slides and the best part is the $200 NRCan subsidy is still available for this course! Seats are limited and filling fast.

October 20, 2010

1st June 2007 the new EU legislation on chemicals concerning the Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals (known as REACH) entered into force. It introduced a novel provision allowing any consumer (hereafter referred to as ‘citizen’) to ask any supplier if their products contain officially recognized Substances of Very High Concern (SVHC) that are listed on an official Candidate List. This right of citizens is referred to as the ‘right to know’. According to that right, suppliers are legally obliged to provide an answer with at least the name of the SVHC, and information allowing safe use of the article, within 45 days, free of charge.

SVHCs are substances that have been identified as carcinogenic, mutagenic or toxic for reproduction or that are persistent and bio-accumulative or warrant similar concern.

From January to August 2010 the European Environmental Bureau (EEB), a federation of over 140 environmental citizens’ organizations based in EU Member States, and surrounding countries, launched a campaign to test how the ‘right to know’ under the REACH Regulation works in practice.

In total, 158 ‘right to know’ requests were sent to 601 retailers/brands established in five European countries. The answer rate was very disappointing: 50% did not answer at all and over 75% were deemed to give answers that do not fulfill minimum REACH requirements. However 22%of the requests were followed with adequate responses, with some retailers showing a very pro-active profile in their chemicals policy.

RBc: Interesting campaign given the comprehensive research done in Europe particularly at DTU on toxic substances in consumer goods.

October 14, 2010

This one-hour presentation from the Healthy Heating webinar series takes design professionals and installation contractors through the basics of indoor air quality, including discussions about odors, minerals, gases, biological, and particulate matter. This Uponor hosted webinar is especially useful for the radiant cooling and heating contractor seeking to understand choices in floor coverings and benefits of dry surfaces for controlling dust mites and mold and the features of dedicated outdoor air systems for conditioning of ventilation air.

Details: Monday, October 18th, 2010, back to back repeat programs at 11:00 a.m. CST and 1:00 p.m. CST. Register today.

September 15, 2010

If you are working on professional development and continuing education, please make note of the following fall programs on building science, indoor air quality, thermal comfort, sustainability, snow melting, radiant heating and cooling and others. I'll be instructing all of these programs and have Professor Birol Kilkis, Ph.D. on-line as well for the ASHRAE Webinar.

You can register on-line for all the course and make note the HRAI programs are eligible for Government subsidies.

HRAI Hydronic Radiant Certification Course – 4 day program (Government subsidies available) It is highly recommended that participants have been certified in heat lossand gain and have previous experience in doing pressure differential calculation for duct or piping design.

August 27, 2010

We just released our long awaited simplified summary of energy, entropy, efficiency, exergy and efficacy based on our brand new presentation on sustainability and early feedback from industry leaders has been great. It’s all consolidated into a single web page – written of course in basic easy to understand language and linked back to numerous pages within the www.healthyheating.com website.

If you missed the HRAI of Canada’s annual general meeting in Kananaskis, Alberta, saw the sustainability slides posted earlier but wanted the descriptive language – well now you have it.

June 16, 2010

The answer is “not necessarily,” according to a new report released today by Environment and Human Health, Inc. (EHHI), titled “LEED Certification: Where Energy Efficiency Collides With Human Health.”

EHHI is a non-profit organization composed of doctors, public health professionals and policy experts who specialize in research that examines environmental threats to human health.

LEED Standards Are Being Adopted into Many Laws

Green Building Council standards are being incorporated into federal, state and local laws through legislation, executive orders, resolutions, policies, loan-granting criteria and tax credits. As demonstrated in this report, LEED standards are clearly insufficient to protect human health, yet they are being adopted by many levels of government as law. Thus the Green Building Council, a trade association for the building industry, is effectively structuring the regulations. The number of jurisdictions adopting these standards as law is growing, which will make them difficult if not impossible to change, unless federal law and regulation supersede the “green” standards with health-protective regulations.

RBc: Last week one of our readers suggested we list Environment and Human Health, Inc. (EHHI) on our blog on environmental health. The report is another reason for people to understand the total definition of IEQ and specifically the relationships between bodies and buildings.

Also as we said last week: Study our slides on The Human Factors in HVAC and understand why we feel strongly that elements of architecture such as building enclosures, interior design and HVAC need to be removed out from under the world of construction and be repositioned within the healthcare industry.

Plus make note of our recent post where we provide advice related to the trust consumers place in the words of healthcare workers vs those of the trades, general contractors and developers.

Health trumps energy everytime (Bud Offermann)...Again for the millionth time - your building can be therapeutic or threatening – it’s your choice.

The 2010 edition of both documents combine the 2007 versions with approved and published addenda thereby providing easy-to-use consolidated standards.

The history of the standards originates from the first publication in 1973 as Standard 62. Both 62.1 and 62.2 are updated on a regular basis using ASHRAE’s continuous maintenance procedures. According to these procedures, Standard 62.1 and 62.2 are continuously revised by addenda that are publicly reviewed, approved by ASHRAE and ANSI, and published in a Supplement approximately 18 months after each new edition of the standard, or in a new, complete edition of the standard, published every three years.

These two standards are utilized worldwide often referenced in building codes and regional standards including such influential programs as Energy Star.

Dr. W.J. Rea, is a thoracic and cardiovascular surgeon with a strong passion for the environmental aspects of health and disease and Founder of the Environmental Health Center (EHC-D) with clinics in Dallas and Chicago. His book first published in 2002 is well researched and illustrated with practical information for anyone designing or managing a home or office.

I give it two thumbs up for content and recommend it to all.

The only negative comment I have is actually for all publishers – hard copy books are expensive to import...make your materials available in a .pdf format - this saves on postage and duty charges which unnecessarily triples the cost of a book when importing it into Canada. In this case the book was $20 but it cost me an additional $40 for bringing it in!

Message to authors - it’s not the price of the book – I and many others would pay more for educational materials if we didn't have to pay for outrageous postage and duty charges.

Here’s a shortlist of resources to environmental health where board certified medical doctors influence the content:

April 26, 2010

OTTAWA - The Honourable Leona Aglukkaq, Minister of Health, announced the launch of a campaign to help make Canadian families more aware of the environmental health risks around them.

The four-year public education campaign is part of the Government of Canada's commitment to environmental health. "Our government is working to help keep Canadian families safer," said Minister Aglukkaq. "As part of this campaign I'm pleased to introduce Hazardcheck, a guide that provides simple advice that parents can take to keep their homes safer and healthier for themselves and their children". Environmental hazards can be present in the air, water, soil or in your home. They can be inhaled or ingested or absorbed through the skin. Children are especially vulnerable to environmental hazards.

Hazardcheck includes specific advice on ways to protect our most vulnerable populations. The Guide builds on Government of Canada efforts to raise awareness of such issues as consumer product safety, so that Canadians can better understand and act to reduce the health risks around them. The Hazardcheck campaign directly supports and builds on the Government of Canada's Chemicals Management Plan and Clean Air Agenda.

RBc: This is a great consumer piece and a recommended read for those wishing to improve your indoor environments. For those wishing to expand your knowledge you may want to consider enrolling in the HRAI of Canada IAQ Awareness Program offered across the country. Contact HRAI of Canada.

March 11, 2010

Excerpt: "Understanding the effects of the built environment on our health is a complex business. Thorough research addressing questions such as “What is the best way to construct a house to reduce the stressful effects of noise exposure?” or “Which ventilation strategies both conserve energy and reduce exposure to potential allergens?” requires expertise from many scientific disciplines, including acoustics, architecture, biology, chemistry, engineering, epidemiology, geography, mathematics, medicine, physics, psychology, public health, and urban planning – and probably others as well. Although there exist international associations bringing together some of these disciplines, there has been no co-ordinated effort to bring together Canadian scientists to study these questions, across all building types, in the Canadian geographical and cultural context. Similarly, there are few examples of co-ordinated Canadian design guidelines, recommended practices, regulations, standards, or codes that address the full breadth of built environment effects on Canadian’s health and wellbeing.

Faced with requests for guidance on how to design, construct, operate, and maintain healthful indoor environments, the NRC Institute for Research in Construction (NRC-IRC) began in 2005 to develop the Canadian Building and Health Sciences Network (CBHSN). The network is intended to facilitate the development of collaborative teams that will conduct innovative, interdisciplinary research intended to improve the health of Canadians by improving the design, construction, operation, and maintenance of the built environment."

Excerpt: Because of their substantial and widespread use, phthalates have become ubiquitous environmental contaminants (Koch et al. 2003; Weschler and Nazaroff 2008; Wormuth et al. 2006). More than 3.5 million tons of phtha¬lates are used worldwide each year, primarily as plasticizers in flexible polyvinyl chloride (PVC) products (Cadogan and Howick 1996). Di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) is an important phthalate, with more than two million tons produced globally each year (Lorz et al. 2002). About 90% of phthalates are found in numerous consumer products, including floor and wall coverings, car interior trim, cloth¬ing, gloves, footwear, wire insulation, artificial leather, and toys (Afshari et al. 2004; Bornehag et al. 2005; Müller et al. 2003). DEHP is mainly used in PVC products such as vinyl flooring (VF), where it is typically present at concentrations of about 20–40% (wt/wt) (Clausen et al. 2004; Deisinger et al. 1998). Because phthalate plasticizers are not chemically bound to the product materials, they are emitted slowly into the surrounding environment (Müller et al. 2003; Wormuth et al. 2006) and have become widely recognized as major indoor pollutants.

Our Purpose

Established in 2004, The Journal of Indoor Environmental Quality (JIEQ) in conjunction with Healthy Heating serves as a technical interpreter and consolidator of academic research demonstrating the building and health sciences are inclusive elements. It provides professional development programs based on its analysis to application professionals such as architects, engineers, interior designers and related technicians.

Subscribe to the JIEQ

Visit www.healthyheating.com

Friends of Industry

Quotes

“The quality of housing conditions plays a decisive role in the health status of the residents, because many health problems are either directly or indirectly related to the building itself, the construction materials that were used, and the equipment or the size or structure of the individual dwellings.”
The World Health Organization

"Indoor environmental quality is in part a result of materials and methods of construction which has an influence on occupant health. For this reason, policies around health and construction cannot be treated separately and must be linked together." Source: Bean, R., IAQ Webinar Presentation, 2009

The HVAC system consumes 50-60% of the building energy cost and generates 80-85% of tenant complaints.
Source: U.S. General Services Administration, Public Buildings Service, Office of the Chief Architect

Good Design

“Industrial designers determine the form and interaction qualities of manufactured products...They study people at work, at home and in motion to create satisfying experiences with products from the kitchen and the office to the hospital and the warehouse…” Excerpt from the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA).

In our opinion, industrial design has been overlooked by the HVAC industry – illustrated by consumers facing difficulties selling homes with HVAC systems which have “beast in the boiler room.”

Be reminded by S. Claire Conroy from Residential Architecture, "It's time architects of every discipline understand residential architecture for what it really is: everyone's most intimate connection with architecture. It's not simply a “test bed”—it's a vessel for our lives on their most personal level. That makes the stakes very high indeed. No one is more discriminating and demanding than a residential client.”

"A lot of it has to do with how we are responding at a physiological level to what we see as we walk in through the door." Sarah Susanka, Architect

“Industrial designers determine the form and interaction qualities of manufactured products...They study people at work, at home and in motion to create satisfying experiences with products from the kitchen and the office to the hospital and the warehouse…” Excerpt from the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA).

"In any industry, one of the most important and difficult tasks is to explain a nuanced process to someone unfamiliar with the field. At its grass roots, design is a process like many others; it has theories, strategies and examples that can be explained on a general level. It’s not a matter of what type of information is given, but rather how it is presented and to what type of audience."
Speaking Design to Non-Designers, IDSA